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The greatest supporters of “Obamacare,” (disingenuously called the “Affordable Healthcare Act), are starting to openly revolt as promises made to them are not matching up to reality.
In a stunning move, 40,000 dues paying members of the International Longshoremen/Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced they have formally ended their association with Richard Trumkas AFL-CIO.
Trumka one of the most frequent White House guests of the Obama administration, played a key role in ginning up union support for the passage of Obamacare. A main selling point was unions wouldn’t be taxed on their existing Cadillac healthcare plans.
In the August 29th letter to Trumka; Longshoreman Union President Robert McEllrath said: “President Obama ran on a platform that he would not tax medical plans and at the 2009 AFL-CIO Convention, you stated that labor would not stand for a tax on our benefits.”
But since that time President Obama has proposed a tax on those unions “Cadillac” health plans and the AFL/CIO under Trumkas leadership has lined up in lockstep behind Obama.
McEllrath closed with: “We feel the Federation has done a great disservice to the labor movement and all working people by going along to get along,”
This is spelling trouble in labor paradise for President Obama as he tries to take Obamacare from promise to harsh reality.
Even Trumka said in a recent press conference regarding Obamacare: “Somebody” needs to fix the law pronto!
To add fuel to the anti Obamacare fire, in July, leaders of three major U.S. unions, including the Teamsters, sent a scathing letter to Democratic leaders:
In it they warned-unless changes are made, Obamacare will “destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.” If not modified, Obamacare will “destroy the very health and well being of our members along with millions of other hardworking Americans.”
Does “fixing something” mean more special exemption carve outs and subsidies for the special protected classes of politicians and Obama supporters? If Obama tries an end run to make an exception for union members, look for a defection of political support for his party as the 2014 elections loom and public resentment grows.
Already organized labor is at an all time low in the private sector with just 11.3% of the workforce. If workers are forced to pay taxes on healthcare plans they consider sacrosanct, especially after they were promised it would never happen…look for a tidal wave of defections from unions.
If unions lose, the Democrat party will lose. If unions win, the Democrat party will lose.
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Ed Farnan is the conservative columnist at IrishCentral, where he has been writing on the need for energy independence, strong self defense, secure borders, 2nd amendment, smaller government and many other issues. His articles appear in many publications throughout the USA and world. He has been a guest on Fox News and a regular guest on radio stations in the US and Europe.
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In what is being reported as a surprise move, the 40,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced that they have formally ended their association with the AFL-CIO, one of the nation’s largest private sector unions. The Longshoremen citied Obamacare and immigration reform as two important causes of their disaffiliation.